1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to vehicle parking systems and in particular to a parking system having a central facility coupled to and monitoring a plurality of satellite parking facilities in which each satellite parking facility automatically identifies a vehicle approaching the entrance or exit lanes to the parking facility and generates an appropriate set of responses such as opening the gate, illuminating a fee display or other sign information, posting accounting information and the like. A user of multiple satellite parking facilities receives one statement periodically from the central or clearinghouse facility. Each satellite parking facility may be independent from the other satellite parking facilities and each may set its own charges and fee schedules. The central facility simply keeps track of all parking in all the satellite parking facilities and sends the user one bill (or debits an account) for the total amount of the parking. A key feature of the central facility or clearinghouse concept is the use of a prepaid balance as opposed to being billed in arrears. When the prepaid balance falls below a predetermined level, the clearinghouse or central facility will either debit the user""s bank account via ACH (automated clearinghouse) or electronic funds transfer, charge the user""s credit card account, or issue an invoice. If the balance becomes negative, the system generally will not allow the user to enter the garage.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many different types of semiautomatic parking systems for vehicles such as motor vehicles including monthly pass cards, automatic ticket dispensers, and the like. In systems where time accounting is required for parking that is subject to charge periods, a card having an electronic memory is used where each memory location can be individually and irreversibly written in order to represent a time unit credit allocated to the holder of the card. Other systems use an electronic memory and a card reader, a portable terminal carried by a parking checker, a card having a magnetic track containing a confidential identification number, and a label for sticking to the windshield of a vehicle with the label bearing information that is unambiguously related to the information stored in the card. Still other systems use capacitive cards and reader systems. Some systems use an automatic fee determining system including means to totalize the amount of coins accepted by the system. Such system includes means for calculating the fee due from a parking ticket. The customer then inserts coins into a coin receptor and a xe2x80x9cvendxe2x80x9d is produced only when the total value of coins at least equals the calculated fee due. Other systems have an entrance station for dispensing a coded card and initiating opening of an entrance gate and an exit station for receiving the card, sensing any lapsed time, computing a toll at a predetermined time rate, collecting the correct toll, and initiating opening of the gate in response to the collection.
These systems all require the intervention of a human operator or an interaction between the vehicle occupant and a device such as a ticket dispenser and the like.
In commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,624 there is disclosed an automatic parking system that can identify a vehicle approaching an entrance or exit lane, and then, based on that identity, generate an appropriate set of responses such as opening a gate, illuminating a fee display, posting accounting information, preparing periodic statements to the owner of the vehicle, and the like. However, if the user goes to another parking facility, either a new membership in that facility will be required so that the user receives another monthly billing statement or the user will have to pay cash.
While in its broadest state, the aforesaid patent claims cover a central billing operation, the improvement disclosed herein specifically covers the use of multiple parking facilities that feed a central billing/credit system thereby permitting the user to use facilities that may be independently owned but for which proper debit of the user""s account will be made as well as proper credit attributed to the specific facility as determined in advance.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a parking system having a central facility coupled to and monitoring a plurality of satellite parking facilities and in which each satellite parking facility may be a facility that operates individually and independent of the other satellite parking facilities. The central facility simply monitors all of the satellite parking facilities and generates one monthly parking fee statement for each user (or a company account, if appropriate) of the system even if the user has parked in each of the satellite parking systems.
In the present system, a vehicle will pull into an entrance lane in any satellite parking facility until it can go no further because the entrance gate is closed. If the vehicle is equipped with a compatible tag or transponder, a signal will return from the vehicle to the sensor. The sensor then relays that signal to the lane controller. The lane controller is a circuit that processes that signal and couples it to a host computer with specific information regarding the vehicle such as the identifier ID, the date and time of day, lane number, and the like.
When the host computer receives the identification signal, it compares it to a complete list of recognized identification numbers contained in a database. If the identification number is found, additional information will then be known about the vehicle including the parker identification and the parking product such as monthly parker, debit, charge, and the like that pertain to this particular vehicle. That information is used to maintain a billing account for that identified vehicle. If the parker is authorized to use a product that allows entry such as daytime usage, weekend usage, or both, for example, then the system will treat the attempted entry as valid. The system will create a partial transaction record that includes the parker identification number, the parking product that is being used, the billing account, and the time of entry into the system. The system will also instruct the lane controller to open the gate. In addition, on a periodic basis, the satellite parking facilities may initiate the transfer of data, if necessary, to the central facility or clearinghouse by communicating with the computer in the central facility in any well-known manner such as by dialing through a modem. It is also feasible for the computer in the central facility to communicate with each of the satellite parking facilities and the host computer therein will download stored financial and related data as regarding each user of the facility. If the user has parked in plural facilities, the data from each facility relating to that user will be used to create a single billing statement. (If the billing is to a corporate or business account, multiple users may be tracked on a single billing statement.)
If the vehicle is not authorized to enter a parking facility because of no identification, no valid identification, not authorized to use a suitable product, or no credit in the account, and the like, the system will not permit entry. However, if the satellite facility also allows transient parkers, the vehicle operator can be issued a ticket in typical fashion which can be retrieved and the gate opened so that the vehicle can enter the satellite facility. This ticketed entry, however, will not be administered by the present system.
Alternatively, a parker who is not authorized to enter based on the present system may elect to pull a parking ticket to bypass the system.
As a vehicle approaches the exit lane, a detector, such as a loop detector, senses the vehicle""s presence and notifies the exit lane controller. The exit lane controller activates a sensor to send a radio frequency signal to the vehicle. If the vehicle is equipped with a compatible tag or transponder, a signal will return from the vehicle to the sensor. The sensor then relays that signal to the lane controller processor. The lane controller processor again processes the signal and transmits it to the host computer along with specific information such as the vehicle identification number, the date and time of day, lane number, and the like.
When the host computer receives that information, it compares the vehicle identification number to the database that contains the complete list of recognized identification numbers. If that identification number is found, the partial transaction record is located and additional information will be known about the vehicle including when it entered the parking facility, the billing account, and the product that accounts for this visit. The system will then calculate the appropriate cost. This cost information and instructions to open the gate are then sent to the lane controller. The cost information is also posted to an accounts receivable submodule and is stored for relaying to the computer in the central facility when the satellite facility is polled.
In the normal case, the lane controller will display the parking cost on an appropriate display monitor and the gate will open. However, if the vehicle does not have an authorized identification number, the typical explanation is that the parker used a ticket on entry. This ticket will not be processed by the system but instead by a system for transient parkers that uses personnel at the gate to take the ticket, calculate a cost, and collect the parking fee.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automated vehicle parking system in which a plurality of satellite parking facilities are coupled to a central facility for providing the user with a single billing statement regardless of the number of satellite facilities in which parking has occurred, and regardless of whether the satellite facilities are independently owned or operated.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an automated vehicle parking system that senses a vehicle, transmits an interrogation signal to the vehicle and, if the vehicle has a compatible tag or transponder, receives from the vehicle an identification number for use in system computers for calculating costs for that particular vehicle and further storing those costs to be passed to the computer in the central facility when polled.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an automated parking facility in which the gates are opened and closed according to a common transponder signal received from the vehicle when interrogated regardless of the particular one of a number of predetermined satellite parking facilities that have been used.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an automated vehicle parking system in which various parking products such as by the hour, by the day, monthly parkers, daytime only, weekend only, and the like can be applied to a particular vehicle, and the costs automatically calculated on a real time basis and stored in an accounting system from which they can be transferred to a computer in a central facility that will issue periodic billings to the customer owning the vehicle regardless of the number of satellite systems used by the vehicle owner, and the central facility will also issue periodic accountings and credits to each facility operator.